Soloette vs. Yamaha SLG200NW - contrasts?

[Aspiring]

Originally Posted by EvanB

Aspiring;



The EO is a new one for me and it looks like it would be hard to beat as a traveler. It's a cool looking beast and the reviews on Amazon are mostly positive. If it's a returnable item then the EO would be a riskless try. Thanks for the point.

Evan, not sure the EO is on Amazon.

This is the url for the direct contact info:

https://eo-guitars.com/

I tried a couple of the less expensive Amazon travel options I found and determined I got what I paid for with the EO

Aspiring;

You are right. I had looked up folding guitar and ended up looking at the Cross. The EO looks to be a better instrument.

[DDW]

I was able to try a SLG200NW for awhile. It certainly has a more natural tone than the Soloette, even from the acoustic string noise. it also feels a bit more like a guitar to hold, I guess because the tuning head it where it is supposed to be and the balance seemed more natural.

I played it through some stage monitor type earphones, tone was very good and much better than the Soloette, though not quite matching a real guitar. The onboard tuner was an interesting feature, and does work for dropped D or one note down tuning (both of which I do). This particular one seemed to have the strings set quite high (maybe 5 mm?), which is remarked also by many reviewers. Also this one had a small bow in the neck, needed some truss rod adjustment. The volume through the earphones I was using is modest, at max about the same as a full sized wood classical.

The one thing I didn't like about it is the pickup was quite sensitive to string buzz, which was made very audible through the earphones. The slightest misplacement of a finger and you knew it - the same misplacement on my classical would not be audible. Has anyone else noticed that? Perhaps made worse by the high action?

Also, I guess for appearance reasons they rounded the inside corners of the upper body piece and left the outer corners sharp. I get that the woodwork looks better that way, but it is ergonomically backwards.

[Aspiring]

Re the top corner of the edges on the Yamaha (and the bottom corner of the lower edge where it hits the chest). That was an issue I had as well so for mine I used my router and some sandpaper to reverse that and put a bevel in then refinished it. Made a very big improvement in comfort.

And I had the same issues with the action on mine. When I received it the nut slots were not wide enough so the strings were sitting partially on top of the nut instead of getting down into it in addition to truss rod and saddle height tweaks being needed.

It also impacted the string buzz that was picked up through the pickup. The stock saddle also had uneven bottom which exaggerated the string noise issue and lowered the output volume.


I suspect going through with a good setup would largely improve your experience.

Aspiring;

Nice helping hand.

[DDW]

Well I've gone and ordered one, supposed to be able to send it back within 30 days.

Aspiring - what did you end up setting the string height to? Looking for a target to shoot for. Did you lower the stings at the nut appreciably? Seemed like they might have been a little high on the one I tried. I did not buy that one as they would not allow returns, so I don't know what the one I will receive will be like - it sounds like most of them are set up too high.

In my experience, most classical guitars are set high--you can always lower the set but it's not easy to raise one unless you want to start with a new saddle.

[Aspiring]

Yes I ended up effectively lowering the nut height substantially. Probably 3-4 mm. But a lot of that was because the nut slots were not cut correctly to the right gauge so I needed to widen them with the correct gauge nut files to allow the string to even reach the bottom. I used the standard fret at fret 3 and check clearance at fret 1 method and set by eye.

As to overall action height I like my classicals lower than most and I like running high tension fluorocarbons so the trebles in particular are set lower than most. I typically aim for about 3mm on the low e and about 2.8 mm on high e for classical but still higher than where I setup my steels

[ceciltguitar]

I bought my first Soloette in 1998 to bring with me for the one week temporary assignment and I had aboard an aircraft carrier.

My favorite feature on the Soloette is the inward-indented arch at the lower bout where are the frame pieces plug-in to the body, which I find very ergonomic for holding the guitar in the standard classical guitar seated position. The thin body also contributes to the ergonomics of holding this guitar in the standard classical guitar seated position.

I like the indented arch on the Soloette so much that eventually I asked Alastair to build an X 10 nylon string guitar with a similar indented arch. Our lengthy email discussions on this guitar build meandered over so much territory over about 50 emails, that eventually the indented arch dropped out of the conversation - my bad for not being persistent enough about it.

When I retired from the Navy and we moved into a bus for six years the Soloette was by far the instrument that I played the most in the bus, out of consideration for my wife and our two young sons. I played that guitar so much that the frets had to be replaced on it - twice.

When the Yamaha SLG200N came out I bought one. I think this is a beautiful guitar, hand I like the neck and the fretboard, and I find the upper wooden frame piece arch that indents in towards the player’s chest while playing the guitar to be very uncomfortable. I intend to sell this guitar, but just haven’t gotten around to it.

I hope that the Yamaha brings you many hours of enjoyment!

[Always Learning]

DDW,
I am a little confused about your thread and the phrase “Continuing my quest for an environmentally resistant classical”…!

What do you mean by “environmentally resistant”?
Do you mean that less wood is used in the production of these two instruments, thus making them so?

Or do you mean that the “Soloette and Yamaha SLG200NW” guitars are less susceptible to the ravages of the environment (humidity and temperature) due to less wood being used to make them?

If you mean the former, yes I guess there is less destruction of natural resources used to produce them.

But if you mean that latter, wood is wood and will always act as wood does when presented to the elements (cold/dry air, or warm overly moist air).

Or does the phrase “environmentally resistant classical”, pertain to the fact that since these are both considered “silent” guitars and that in order to hear them that the use of headphones is needed, and that this classifies them as “environmentally resistant” since when being played you are not disturbing others with your music?

Hey, both are funky looking guitars, but please forgive me, I am just trying to wrap my head around the “environmentally resistant classical”…! part of the thread.

[Always Learning]

First off please forgive me, but somehow when I originall posted this reply it somehow ended up in a different thread... MY BAD I guess...

Now to my reply to DDW and his quest...

DDW,
I am a little confused about your thread and the phrase “Continuing my quest for an environmentally resistant classical”…!

What do you mean by “environmentally resistant”?
Do you mean that less wood is used in the production of these two instruments, thus making them so?

Or do you mean that the “Soloette and Yamaha SLG200NW” guitars are less susceptible to the ravages of the environment (humidity and temperature) due to less wood being used to make them?

If you mean the former, yes I guess there is less destruction of natural resources used to produce them.

But if you mean that latter, wood is wood and will always act as wood does when presented to the elements (cold/dry air, or warm overly moist air).

Or does the phrase “environmentally resistant classical”, pertain to the fact that since these are both considered “silent” guitars and that in order to hear them that the use of headphones is needed, and that this classifies them as “environmentally resistant” since when being played you are not disturbing others with your music?

Hey, both are funky looking guitars, but please forgive me, I am just trying to wrap my head around the “environmentally resistant classical”…! part of the thread.

[DDW]

Yes, perhaps I should have been less cryptic. I travel between home (ideal climate for guitars), the high desert (hot and humidity <10%) and the ocean (cool and humidity often >80%). All pundits agree that this is not good for a wood bodied guitar, fabricated from thin panels glued together. I initially looked for a carbon fiber guitar, but there are (pretty much) no classical versions made. That leaves the stick guitars, though they are wood, they are a single plank which is far more durable and stable with heat and humidity changes compared to a guitar body. Also less susceptible to travel handling damage.

I am unconcerned about the environmental consequences, if you take the whole history of the guitar manufacture, it is less than insignificant compared to the industrial revolution generally.

[ceciltguitar]

Here is a relatively new carbon fiber travel guitar:

https://journeyinstruments.com/produ...guitar-oc660m/


Also builds nylon string carbon fiber guitars:

https://emeraldguitars.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Dlutowski-G...3537668098774/

https://leviora-guitars.de/en/guitars/c-series/

And for something else along the lines of the Yamaha you might want to take a look at the Frameworks Guitars, at the high end of price. Or, as a low end alternative, take a look at the Tenayo TTG10. I believe the Yamaha is the best bodiless guitar for the money.

[DDW]

Bought the Journey and returned it - the tone and balance between strings was not to my liking, but perhaps mainly the 1 7/8 nut didn't work for me. Emerald also does not make a classical width nut. I investigated Dlutoswki a bit but it would be a custom build, sight unseen (hearing unheard?) and not returnable. There are a few reports of the Leviora, quite expensive and sounds "different" according to reports.

I'd also seen the Framework, very similar idea to the Soloette, perhaps the pickup and electronics would be more modern than my > 20 year old Soloette? Would cost a lot to find out and again not returnable. I had not seen the Tenayo, might be cheap enough to take a chance on, again similar to the Soloette and most examples seem to be in Europe.

This leaves the Blackbird Rider as the only one I know of that I remain interested in. Not a lot of them on the used market though. Or if Blackbird would make a new one from Ekoa. I wonder if the molds still exist for the Rider nylon? Still need to make that trip down to Blackbird....

Meanwhile the Yamaha has gotten lost by Fedex, was supposed to be delivered yesterday but now maybe Sunday.